In the livestream, following Yang Lin's explanation, netizens quickly learned about this peculiar painting competition.
"Interesting, a painting competition between humans and a pig."
"I knew the animals at Xihong Zoo weren't normal. This pig can paint now."
"I really want to know what the director has gone through to teach a pig to paint."
"Indeed, the animals in this zoo are a bit strange. Yesterday, I thought that beautiful parrot would be normal, but it immediately asked me to call it 'Dad' when it opened its mouth."
"You didn't see Shidifu smoking three cigarettes at once. What's more, he knew to hide them when he saw children coming over."
"Here we go, I want to see which little fool loses to a pig."
...
As Yang Lin announced the start of the competition, all the participating tourists picked up their brushes and began to paint. Li Fugui, in the pigpen, was no exception.
It lightly placed its front limbs on the not-so-high enclosure of the pigpen.
Its two front legs held down the drawing board, and its mouth held a paintbrush dipped in paint.
Sometimes its brow furrowed, sometimes its brushstrokes were as fast as flying.
This action immediately amused the crowd and the livestream viewers.
"Oh my, it must be hard work for the person inside the suit, pretending to be a real pig so well."
"Yeah, I wonder how much salary they get for pretending to be a pig all day."
"I strongly suspect all the animals in the zoo are just employees in disguise."
"Okay, I admit it. This pig is actually my ex-boyfriend. Even if he turned into a pig, I'd recognize him at a glance."
"Those eyes are so full of intelligence."
"Don't say it, its mouth movements are still very professional."
"Looking at it, could it actually win first place?"
...
Amidst the discussions, time ticked by, and the contestants' paintings gradually neared completion.
However, as they were doing the final touches, a pig's squeal came from the pigpen.
Hearing the squeal, Yang Lin immediately grabbed his phone and walked over.
When he got closer, he saw that it had finished painting.
Looking at the realistic landscape painting with a touch of freehand style on the canvas, not only the netizens in the livestream but even Yang Lin himself was somewhat surprised.
"Holy cow, did a pig really paint this?"
"If no one had come near in the middle, I would have thought the painting was swapped."
"Damn it, I've lived in vain. A pig can create such a work, and I can't even draw a turtle properly."
"I don't know if these contestants here can beat it, but I certainly can't."
"I'll never say my son is as stupid as a pig again. Clearly, pigs are much smarter than him."
"It's obvious that the director's main job should be raising pigs. He raises other animals like pigs, but he raises this pig like a human."
"How much is this painting? I'll buy it. I'm willing to pay 5 million. If you don't sell, consider this sentence unsaid."
"This pig should be the world's first pig with independent artwork. I'll call it 'Pig Amazing'."
"It's practically the Da Vinci of pigs. So, is its brain more nourishing?"
"It's better to call it Pigcasso, as this painting has a touch of abstraction."
"If I had such a pig, I'd make it paint all day and have it support me."
At this moment, everyone spared no expense with their praise.
Although they could see that Li Fugui's painting wasn't technically perfect, it was a pig, after all. Why demand such high standards for a painting done by a pig?
By this time, the competition was nearing its end, and all participants had progressively finished their artworks.
Next was the public judging phase.
As per Yang Lin's requirement, this step would be decided by votes from all the tourists present.
The tourists were quite pleased with this segment.
After more than ten minutes of voting, the final tally was quickly revealed.
Li Fugui, the large black pig, secured first place with an overwhelming 784 votes.
Another contestant, reportedly a student from an art academy, came in second with 564 votes.
Yang Lin was not surprised by the result, not because he knew how good Li Fugui's painting was.
But rather, he knew that very few people could resist voting for a large black pig that could paint.
In fact, most of the tourists who voted for Li Fugui weren't voting for its artwork but for the pig itself.
"You vote, I vote, when will Piggy debut."
"You don't vote, I don't vote, Piggy will soon be chopped into lion's head."
"Piggy worked so hard, are you sure you won't give it a vote?"
"If Piggy doesn't get first place this time, the director will probably cut its food rations. Look at it, it probably hasn't eaten for ten minutes."
"Piggy girls never give up, Piggy Cult forever."
During the voting, the entire venue was filled with such playful shouts from the tourists.
It was precisely because of the efforts of these "Piggy-loving" tourists to solicit votes that it managed to get over seven hundred votes.
To Yang Lin's surprise, the contestants whose votes were lower than Li Fugui's not only had no complaints but also generously and proactively expressed their indifference.
Seeing everyone's reaction, Yang Lin immediately announced another piece of news that excited everyone present.
"Considering the excellent performance of all the contestants, I have decided to give everyone a photo with the paw prints of Qiuqiu and Yuanyuan."
"I have also contacted the manufacturer and placed an order. Soon, there will be merchandise of those animals launched."
"This includes animal plush toys and derivative products based on animal images. You can then grab them in my livestream. With your ticket stub, you'll get a 20% discount."
As soon as Yang Lin finished speaking, the tourists present and those in the livestream showed expressions of excitement.
The charm of the animals that had appeared at Xihong Zoo so far was undeniable. Combined with the spread of the internet, they had indeed become big stars in the animal kingdom.
Therefore, everyone had long been looking forward to their merchandise.
The event officially concluded at this point, and Li Fugui's fame was thoroughly established within the park and online.
After all, it was a genius pig that could paint.
Thus, Yang Lin's goal of diverting traffic to the zoo was finally achieved. With almost no need for deliberate guidance, a large number of tourists flocked from other areas.
Seeing that the safety hazards were temporarily resolved, Yang Lin headed towards the artificial lake, where two more "big guys" were waiting for him.